An Update

[An e-mail sent to friends at home/school regarding new developments in my life. If I left you out by mistake, you can catch up here.]

Hey, friends!

Just wanted to write and give you a little update on my life post-graduation. I have been mourning the loss of my college-girl days, but living in Nashville has been an exciting change! While it's been disheartening not to have a job all summer, I've used the time to visit with friends, get settled in a new city, and go to several weddings. I've also been doing some writing and starting to flesh out some ideas for girls' ministry curriculum. I've been living with a sweet family with a seven-year-old daughter and an almost-six-year-old son. They have blessed me by opening their home--and their lives--during this time of transition.

My life seems to be filled with children, actually. For the past month, I've been working at Pottery Barn Kids, where I sell kids' furniture, facilitate sing-alongs, climb ten-foot ladders, and clean up after not-yet potty trained two-year-olds. Needless to say, working retail has been quite a humbling experience! I've been thankful for the stellar discount and even the not-so-stellar income, however, and plan to continue working there on a casual basis so that I can afford to furnish a Pottery Barn/Williams-Sonoma apartment sometime soon.

The big news is that I have a "real" job! I will be working for a friend who recently opened an optometry practice called the Spectacle Shoppe here in Franklin. It's in a cute planned community called that my mom, who visited last weekend, would kill to live in :) I have jokingly said that I'll be a "lay optometrist," since I'll be helping with eye exams and teaching people how to put in contacts, so Matt made up the word "loptometrist" to describe my new occupation!

In addition to starting work in two weeks, I was accepted to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and will begin a class or two at the extension center here in Nashville next Monday. This was a big decision for me, since I never thought I was interested in graduate school! As recently as April I had said I at least needed some time off before going back to school, but as soon as I handed in that thirty-page thesis, I knew I was ready to start classes again. It's funny how the Lord prepares us for things in different timing than we might expect. Check back to keep up with what I'm learning in systematic theology this semester!

Thanks to all of you who have so faithfully prayed that the Lord would make a way for me here in Nashville! At times it's been difficult to trust that I'm where I am supposed to be, especially since I passed up a great job opportunity at my church in Richmond to move here and be unemployed!! But I can see how God has provided just a little at a time, thereby confirming the presence of His Spirit. My dear friend in Japan once pointed me to Proverbs 4:12, which says "as you go step by step, I will open up the way to you." That wisdom has really resonated in my life this summer! I've also been encouraged during this season by the story of Israel's desert wandering in Numbers 9. Verse 17 says, "wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped." Thanks for continuing to pray with me that the Lord will make clear my life's overall calling and the individual assignments He has for me along the way!

Would love to visit with those of you in Bloomington/Chicago when Matt and I are home September 18-21, and with all of you in Richmond over homecoming weekend, October 24-26! And of course if you're ever passing through Nashville, give me a holler!

Living where the cloud settles,
Chelsea